MIDEAST UPDATE, 8/7/2014

THE WIDOW SISTERHOOD

Earlier this year, R**** shared with us the story of a Syrian woman who witnessed the murder of her husband at the hands of her son, because he refused to deny his new-found faith in Jesus Christ. What happened when her son demanded that she deny Christ in front of close to 400 witnesses has been told in a previous posting on this blog. The story has also been told and retold in the Middle East in these past few months. She, Mofidah, walked out untouched and unaffected by the fire, smoke and collapsing debris of a completely destroyed mosque, but her  32 year old son and all the witnesses did not.

Since then, the Lord has chosen to use Mofidah and a group of 25 other widows to lead others to Salvation and He has also chosen to heal many that she has prayed for. These stories have also spread.

Last week, in a neighboring town, ISIS fighters had attacked and severely injured a group of men, spraying their legs with heavy gauge bullets, breaking bones, leaving them bleeding, and marked to die. There were four Sheikhs included in the injured group and they were taken for medical treatment by several doctors, all of whom agreed that amputation within days would be the only thing that would save their lives.

A neighbor of one of the Sheikhs had heard of Mofidah’s prayers and suggested that she be allowed to pray for them. A messenger was sent to find Mofidah to ask her to meet with the four Sheiks in a mosque in this neighboring town. It took a couple days to find her, and by then gangrene was already setting in and time was short.

Knowing the trap her husband, Nabil, had walked into which cost his life, and knowing what had happened to her in another mosque, she was hesitant to go. But she and her group of 25 widows prayed and discussed the situation and they urged her to go.

When Mofidah and her army of 25 praying widows got to the other town, they were met in the mosque not only by the four injured Sheikhs, but also another group of 12 sheikhs and a group of onlookers. When Mofidah looked at the injured men, she could see that they were in critical condition.

The sheikhs, those injured and those not injured, tried to make a deal with Mofidah, telling her that they would believe in her God if the men were healed. She refused to make any kind of deal, telling them she had no power to heal anyone. Only God could do this and she did not know if God would heal them or not. She would not allow healing the men to be a condition of their believing. If they chose to believe or not believe, it was between them and God. After some arguing, they finally agreed to have her pray for the injured men with no conditions.

Mofidah then said that she would do nothing until she had some time alone. She then spent about half an hour in prayer, alone with God. When she returned to the group, she said that she would need some things before she could pray for them. She needed flour, water, cooking oil, and some means to start a fire. She also asked for 4 small sticks of wood.

One of the head Sheikhs gathered what she requested. She told them that they should not expect an instant healing and that it would take 3 days, but God would heal the injuries. Mofidah mixed the flour, water, and oil, then added some dust from the ground into a bowl. What she did next shocked them all. In fact, it had to have been the hand of God that kept these men from killing her right there in the mosque.

Mofida spread the mixture over all eight legs and had the onlookers help each of the injured men bite down on the sticks of wood so that they would not bite their tongues. She then lit the concoction on fire! The men screamed because of the terrible pain, but she did not let up. She kept the fires going, adding more of the mixture as needed. She did this for 30-45 minutes!

The watching Sheikhs were outraged, thinking she was killing them. They asked her if she was crazy. She put a hand up in their direction, looked at them and asked, “Do you want them healed or not?” She said to either keep quiet and stay out of the way or step out of the mosque.

The four injured men passed out during the process and did not wake up, putting the other Sheikhs in a rage because they thought she had killed them. They threatened her and said she would pay the highest price for her treachery. She just told them that it would take three days and they must give her the three days or the men would not be healed.

For those three days, the four injured Sheikhs slept. They did not wake up until Mofidah went to them on the third day and called them by name. As she called each one, he woke up. They each jumped up and cried out for joy because they had been TOTALLY healed. When the onlookers examined their legs, there was not a mark to be found. It was as though God had given all four men new legs!

The Sheikhs fell down at Mofidah’s feet, kissing them and asking her to teach them how to know God as she does. She reminded them that she did not heal them, she was only God’s tool. But she would lead them in prayer. The four Sheikhs that had been healed prayed right there and accepted Jesus as their Messiah. The other twelve sheikhs and head sheikhs did the same—as did the rest of the people who witnessed what had happened. Then a great celebration began……not just here on the earth, but also in the Kingdom of Heaven!

The men will soon go to R**** to be taught about their new-found Savior and Redeemer. Men like these sheikhs have taught people for sometimes 40-50 years and they are given great respect from the people. Potentially thousands will find Jesus as Messiah just from this miracle alone! The Book of Acts is still being written…..the final chapters are being added even now.

Still, the need for Bibles is ongoing as more and more Arab-speaking people throughout the Middle East join the Kingdom of Light. We continue to pray for others to join House of Blessing in making the Word of God available to these who are living in darkness while there is still time.

As for me, every time I read the details of this amazing event which, by the way, just happened less than a week ago, it brings tears to my eyes. How much God loves the human race! How far He will go to reach four men that had been taught little more than that their god Allah is a god of hate and he demands his followers to do the same. With men like this, God shows His love in a most amazing way. By the way, I might add that there seems to be a rather interesting significance to the items God had asked this humble widow Mofidah to use. That however will be the subject of a post coming up real soon. God does nothing without reason!

If you would like to be a part of what is happening in the Middle East today through this small practically unknown ministry, please click on the information provided on how to donate. Thank you from us, Jake and Anne Geier, and also from all of the brethren of House Of Blessing!

Jake Geier